Your new shoes look fantastic and are the latest style, but are stiff and uncomfortable to walk in. New shoes usually need to be broken in when first bought, and high heels are no exception. It's time to get a little creative!

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Steps

Part 1 of 2: Using Easy Fixes

1

Wear your shoes for a half hour to an hour every day. Take them off as soon they start to hurt. After a few days, you should feel more comfortable in your new shoes. It's best if you can wear them when you're moving around as this stretches them out more -- so grab 'em when you're doing the dishes or getting ready for a night out (in flats). But on and off at work, even if you're mostly at your desk, is good, too.

If you're really hard up, go walking in your heels. Walking on concrete will give them a natural scuff that keeps the soles from sliding, so you may want to stick to somewhere cleaner if you're trying to keep your shoes pristine.

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2

Wear your shoes with socks. A fashion faux pas, so slide them on when you're under your desk or when you're schlepping around the house. Not too thin -- it won't do anything, but not too thick, either; you don't want your feet slipping out when you are wearing them skin-to-shoe. Your normal, everyday sock will do just fine. Do this for a few days and you'll notice that you are blister-free and your shoes are broken in and have molded to the shape of your foot as well!

Damp socks can work too -- the water stretches out the material just slightly, speeding up the breaking-in process. The only downside of this is that if you do this too much with leather, it can dry it out. Leather moisturizers do exist, for the record, but if you can avoid needing it, why not?

3

To keep from sliding around on the shiny soles, use a bit of sandpaper and "rough up" the soles. This is especially important in the area under the toes. Walking in high heels gets a lot easier when you're not sliding all over the place!

Don't want to scuff up your soles? Use non-slip pads on the balls of the shoe instead. They're available in just about any convenience or drugstore and you can't mess it up.

4

Use your blow dryer. You've heard of bend and snap, and now it's time for "bend and stretch." Start going to town on your shoes, stretching them every which way, and then put them under the heat blast for a couple of minutes and repeat. The heat helps the material expand and your stretching maximizes its effect.

Do this in 10 minute or so increments. Certain materials don't do so well under heat for long periods of time.

5

Be sure to buy the correct size. If you get a size too small, it will really hurt your feet. If you get a size too big, you could injure your feet as well. Even if you think you know your size, talk to the assistant at your shoe store. 1/2 size up or down could make all the difference.

Part 2 of 2: Going Heavy Duty

1

If they still hurt after this, buy gel soles. Your feet will be more comfortable and no one will know you're cheating! Some will also break in the shoes, slowly making them more comfortable before you even realize it.

2

Go for moleskin. This is basically a more comfortable band-aid that comes in sheets; you can cut it to the size you want. One side is sticky and one side is soft. Cut it to size and stick it to the areas of your feet that hurt (where the blisters would be forming). If you have tights or pants on, you can even wear these during the day!

Be sure to put the sticky parts on your feet. It's tempting to put them on your shoes so you can leave them and wear them over and over, but they will rub off and you'll be left with a shoe with a nasty residue on the inside.

To get maximum comfort, soak your feet with the moleskin on for a few minutes in warm water. The moleskin will expand and your feet will be that much more protected in the areas that need protecting.

3

Buy a heel stretcher. If this is a battle you constantly find yourself fighting, you may want to invest in a heel stretcher. You simply insert it in your shoes over night and in the morning, you should be good to go. Certainly beats buying sticky pads, band-aids, and Tylenol over and over!

Or just go to the store you bought them at. Many (especially the big department stores) have stretchers just for this purpose. You can hand over your shoes and go perusing the aisle and they'll be done when you come back.

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Tips

There are many different types of aids to help make a shoe more comfortable even after "breaking them in," and can be purchased at shoe stores, large retailers, and some drugstores. These include special small gel pads for the balls of the feet, heel inserts to help minimize chafing at the back of the shoe and rough patches to glue onto the bottom of a slick sole, affording you better traction. You can also rough up the soles yourself with sandpaper for a cheaper alternative.

This works really well for closed heel and toe leather shoes: (1) Wear the shoes around the house for about half an hour. Note where the shoes are rubbing, pinching, or uncomfortable. (2) Stick on a nice big piece of moleskin (found at the drug store) on the parts of your FOOT that were being rubbed/pinched. (3) Take a shower, bath, or just soak your feet for a few minutes. The moleskin is now wet. Dry your feet with a towel. (4) Put your shoes back on and wear them around the house or out and about with the damp moleskin on your feet. This makes the leather supple so it molds faster to your foot. The moleskin also protects your skin from being rubbed so it prevents blisters. This works like a charm. Note: if you wear the moleskin for a few days, the glue of the moleskin collects some dirt and dust. This stays on your feet for a few days but washes off. It is not sticky, unhealthy or bad for your shoes. It looks similar to if you just took off a band-aid.

Try on different styles of high heels to see which fits more comfortably.

Warnings

Don't buy shoes a size too small just to make your feet look smaller. It can cause foot pain, blisters, corns, and bunions.

Don't buy a stiletto because it has 'roomier' heel space. An insecure wobbling heel will most likely lead to an injury such as a sprained ankle. A high heeled shoe should have a decently comfortable but secure heel strap.

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